Money for the Grantham

THE Heritage Lottery Fund has approved a development grant to the Grantham Canal Partnership of £48,000, that could lead to much more cash.

The 'thin end of the wedge' is for the Grantham Canal Society partnership to establish a heritage skills training base at Woolsthorpe and attract new volunteers from further afield particularly from Nottingham and Leicester.

Further cash

This could lead to further cash being available for investment in the next stage of the 33 miles long restoration project.

This first award will allow the partnership to prepare a detailed application for a programme of works on the canal with of course  focus on heritage skill training, with the eventual overall project value being around £750,000, with £400,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Restore two

There are still 13 of the 18 locks on the Grantham Canal  in various stages of dereliction, but this lottery funding would pay for the restoration of two of these locks, extending the navigable length of canal at Woolsthorpe, and provide volunteers with the skills to tackle other locks along the waterway.

Kevin Mann of the Grantham Canal Partnership observed:

Local people will be learning how to restore a lock, to point up brickwork, how to re-use old materials and have an enjoyable time in the process."

So notwithstanding the knock-back over Mann’s Bridge, the restoration of the Grantham Canal is still alive and kicking.